The Red Herring

May 1, 2002
As the Cuban Missile Crisis heads to a climax, the English town of Highbridge is rocked by a murder and then a school girl's kidnapping. Chief Inspector Charlie Woodend, Detective Sergeant Monica Paniatowski, and Detective Inspector Bob Rutter investigate the crimes, only to find that their boss and new colleagues from Scotland Yard are blocking the investigation. This latest Woodend and Rutter mystery offers a fast, unsettling pace, strong dialogue, and dark humor. Spencer reaches into Woodend's past to show how a painful case influenced his unorthodox detecting methods, and she fills out her newest character, DS Paniatowski. Along with the sure sense of police procedure are vivid descriptions of life during the missile crisis and the atmosphere at an exclusive school, along with a le Carre-like sense of the folly of espionage. Spencer broadens her appeal here from procedural fans to devotees of military and spy thrillers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)